Friday, September 27, 2013

TORONTO JAZZ CENTRAL WEB SITE LAUNCH PARTY AT THE REX HOTEL

On a
cool fall Thursday evening on September 26th, I decided to head down
to the Rex to catch a very special initiative that is happening in the jazz
community in Toronto.It is the celebration
of a new web site and online community called “Toronto Jazz Central”, headed by
Josh Grossman, artistic director of the Toronto Jazz Festival and conductor of
the Toronto Jazz Orchestra.

The
evening was filled with musicians, club owners, educators and fans of jazz
music, kicking off what could be a very promising future for jazz in Toronto,
Canada, and the entire world.Toronto
Jazz Central was formed “to support and advocate the jazz community of Toronto,
while growing an audience locally, nationally, and internationally”, says
Grossman.Josh Grossman also states
that Toronto Jazz Central is a community that is “non-partisan”, “non-profit”,
and “egalitarian”, fostering a sense of connectivity and community through this
new initiative.

According
to Josh Grossman, Toronto Jazz Central was modeled after the success of two
sites located in New York and Boston, which are Search and Restore and Jazz
Boston respectively.

The
website, which will be launching in December of 2013, consists of three level
tiers of memberships which people can sign up for.General fans can pay $25 for a year and be
able to cast a vote, get free access to concerts, be notified of listings, and
access profiles of jazz musicians.Musicians pay $25 but they get the bonus of uploading music, video,
pictures, and gig listings to further promote their work and craft to a huge
global online audience.Industry
professionals pay $100 for the year.

The
musical entertainment was none other than a superlative duo consisting of Kirk
MacDonald and Pat Labarbera, two tenor saxophonists who are at the top of their
game and bringing the history of John Coltrane, Dexter Gordon, Lester Young and
Coleman Hawkins to Canadian audiences.They were later joined by pianist Bernie Senensky for a great take on “On
Green Dolphin Street”.